CHAPTER 81: SAVE LAURA!

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Bang! Bang! Bang!

A violent noise resounded from the other side of the door.
With each bang, the door let out a creaking noise.

Laura held her breath as she watched it all happen.

A Dullahan, a high-level undead, was just a single door away.
It was an exceptionally powerful monster⁠—one that Laura had no hope of victory against, no matter how desperately she struggled.

Laura’s body stiffened.

…Somebody…!

Neither her prayers, nor pleas…

would save her from the harsh reality so conveniently.

With a loud crash, the door was torn asunder, splitting into two pieces.

“—!”

The walking set of steel armor slowly made its way into the room, pushing past the clouds of dust and fragments of the door.

It turned its body to its target, which should’ve been standing by the window at the back.

However—

Laura was no longer there.

She had already moved from her spot by the windows to the front door of the classroom, which was to the side of the door that the Dullahan broke down.

Once the Dullahan entered the classroom, she would exit from that door.

That was her entire strategy—no more, no less.

But that was all she needed.
A getaway plan doesn’t need to be creative or innovative.

This room was a special-purpose classroom, and it was lined with large desks that multiple students could fit together in.

While the door with Hard Rock cast on it was buying her time, she arranged the desks between the front door and the back door, blocking the Dullahan’s path and preventing it from heading straight toward her.  

Just a few moments… it should buy me a few seconds.

But that’s going to be the decider here!

Neither her prayers nor pleas would save her from the harsh reality so conveniently.

In that case—

I just need to struggle my way through and carve out my own reality!

Laura said the keyword to undo the Hard Rock door in front of her, and the spell effect faded away.

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…Now! I need to make a run for it!

Laura had been observing the Dullahan from the start.

As a result—

…Wha!?

—she managed to keep her life.

Laura reflexively stepped backward.

She stepped… backward.

That’s because she judged that she didn’t have enough time to open the door and run.

That was the correct decision.

The Dullahan didn’t decide to move the desks that Laura rearranged out of the way—it picked up the desk and suddenly threw it at Laura.

“Wah!?”

After taking a step back, the desk violently crashed into the wall right in front of Laura.
The desk burst apart with a loud boom, its broken remains littering the floor.
As a result, the path forward was obstructed.

There wasn’t any time to move the broken pieces out of the way.

In other words, the only door she could use was the one behind the Dullahan.

Even so, Laura refused to give up.

“Magic Arrow, Magic Arrow!”

Laura fired multiple Magic Arrows in succession at the Dullahan.
It was ineffective. 

She knew that would happen.

Even so, she had no choice but to struggle.

Paying no heed to Laura’s attacks whatsoever, it closed in on Laura.

She continued to run around the classroom to buy even the slightest of seconds.
She didn’t even have the leeway to think if her actions would amount to anything.

But in the end—all it did was prolong the inevitable.

Laura was trapped in the corner of the classroom.

Clank, clank.

The Dullahan got closer and closer.
If those steel hands caught hold of Laura, her delicate neck would be snapped like a twig.

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Death itself approached, knocking on her door.

Overwhelmed by fear, Laura shut her eyes.

Laura did all that she could.
Believing a miracle would occur, she frantically ran around for her life—she bought time.

But this marked the end of her pointless struggle.

She exhausted all of her options.

She did everything in her power.

There was nothing else she could do. 

She had done everything.

That’s why, at the very end, she called out the name of the person who always saved her from the depths of her heart.

The culmination of Laura’s struggles—

“Save me, Albert!”

This prayer, this plea…

might even change reality.

“Magic Arrow!”

She heard a familiar voice, and the Dullahan was blown apart.

We dashed through the dark school building as fast as we could.

The moment we barged into the classroom, I heard a voice.

“Save me, Albert!”

I didn’t need to spare another millisecond to figure out whose voice that was.

It was Laura’s.

I reflexively lifted my right hand and shouted, “Magic Arrow!”

The walking set of armor took a direct hit of my Magic Arrow and shattered into pieces.

Its broken remains scattered all over the floor, then faded away like the Zombies.

Laura was in the back of the room.

“Laura! Are you alright!?”

Laura stared at me with a dumbfounded expression.

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“…Is that you, Albert…? Is that really you?”

“It is.
It’s me, Albert.
You don’t need to worry anymore.”

I got closer to her, and as if freed from her trance, Laura jumped up—and embraced me.

“It’s really…really you! You actually came…! Thank you very much!”

She seemed to be overcome with emotion, refusing to let go.
I did just rescue her from a pinch, I suppose.

I was somewhat at a loss as to what to do.

Here we have a girl that just went through something frightening, and now she was turning to me for comfort. 

What was the best way to respond to this?

Also—I felt stares.

“…So precious…” said Flin, watching us with both hands clasped together.

What did she mean by precious…?

“…We’ll be standing guard outside in case any undead come…!” Firvus dragged Flin away and left the room.

Eventually, Laura let go of me as she sniffled.

“…I-I’m sorry…! I, um, got a little emotional…!”

“…No, it’s fine…”

I pondered for a bit, then placed my hand on Laura’s shoulder.
Maybe it’ll calm her down a little… or at least, I hope it will.

“Everything’s all right now.”

“Yes!” Laura nodded, smiling from ear to ear.

“I’m seriously glad that you’re unharmed.” 

I meant that from the bottom of my heart.

“Let’s head back.” Laura and I left the classroom.

Firvus and Flin were waiting outside.
“You good now, Albert?”

“Yes.
Let’s head back,” I replied, giving Firvus a nod.

Flin seemed to still be in her own little wonderland.
“I saw something great…” She muttered something cryptic with her hand on her cheek.

What’s up with her? She’s been acting kind of suspicious for a while now… I started worrying for Flin a little.

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All four of us went down the stairs together.

I heard Flin and Laura’s conversation from behind me.

“Laura, did you escape here from the library?”

“Yes.
Zombies appeared out of the blue… What was that all about?”

“No idea…”

That’s when the conversation took a sudden turn.

“U-Um! Wait a minute!” said Laura in a panicked tone.

I turned around to see Laura a short distance away from the path down the stairs, staring down the hallway as she waved her hand back and forth.

“What’s the matter, Laura?” I called out to Laura.

“Over there…” Laura pointed down the hallway.
There was a bright glimmer of Lighting in the area she indicated.

There was a Lighting here, of all places…?

“Wait, that isn’t the one I made…” said Laura.

That meant another student left it behind.

…Who could it be…?

“Let’s move,” said Firvus, briskly approaching the light source.
It was in front of the door of a classroom.

Firvus placed his hand on the door, but it didn’t budge an inch.
“This has Hard Rock cast on it…”

He then peeked through the glass embedded in the door, checking the inside of the room.
“—Guys,” his voice stiffened, “there’s someone collapsed in there… two of them.”

His hand still on the door, Firvus said, “Dispel Magic!”

His mana-erasing spell dispelled the Hard Rock that was cast on the door.

The four of us entered the room.

“Hey, you alright!? Hey!” said Firvus, lifting up one of the students collapsed on the floor.

I recognized that face.

It was the head of the class, Blain Milhis…

Reacting to Firvus’ voice, Blain let out a small groan.
His life didn’t seem to be in any danger.

Wasn’t there one other student who fell unconscious? 

Standing in front of the collapsed female student, Laura murmured in a heartbroken voice.

“Liz—”